8. THEODORE ROOSEVELT: The Man in the Arena

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) is one of my favourite historic figures and this is my favourite quote. Roosevelt was a naturalist, ornithologist, cowboy, conservationist, ranchman, war hero, writer, hunter and politician. Growing up, Teddy was severely asthmatic, too scared to play outside and would instead spend all his time reading. Finally, his father told him to ‘man-up’ and overcome his physical frailty through will power and mental toughness. Theodore not only overcame his asthma, he went on to embrace what he called ‘the strenuous life’ – a life filled with physical activity, adventure and action. He had a fierce intellect as well, writing several books, mediating wars, winning political duels and oh yeah … he was the US President for 8 years too. Although he was by no means perfect (he was a warmongering jingo during his early life), Teddy has probably led the fullest and most action-packed life of anyone I’ve ever read about.

- This quote was only part of the speech Roosevelt delivered in Paris in 1910. It was reprinted in papers around the world and was later named The Man in the Arena and sold as a pocketbook.
– Fun fact 1: The Teddy Bear was named after Teddy Roosevelt.
– Fun fact 2: In his Ranchman days in the badlands of North Dakota, Roosevelt became good friends with Seth Bullock, who was the main character played by Timothy Olyphant in one of my favourite shows, Deadwood.
– This quote is the only one I’ve ever printed and stuck on my wall.
– Who’s the historic figure you admire most and do they have any great quotes that inspire you? Maybe I can adapt them into a Zen Pencil.

Who wanted to be an astronaut when he was seven. I wanted to be a ninja turtle when I was seven. At some point, this guy decided he wanted to be an accountant, and he’s obviously good at it and proud of it.

This quote played a big part in me deciding to quit full-time employment and become a freelancer, back in 2006. I managed five pretty great, successful years, and then one terrible almost life-ending year. Now I’m back into regular employment, older and wiser. I have known victory and I have certainly known defeat, but I press on into new arenas.

I’ve just checked out your art and I’m quite frankly feeling like the lightbulb has been reinvented. I LOVE the work of Teddy, even though I may fall into the Democrat spectrum myself. In a more personal note, I would love some MLK or Malcolm X. Not saying that its a must. But just some suggestions to keep in mind. PS: Please dont stop making this. It really does help a lot to understand this kind of quotes maybe a little too deep for those that dont have english has a first language such as myself. Thank you for this artwork. THANK YOU!

P.S. : If you could please en-cartoon great philosophers with simplistic approach like Miyamoto Musashi (Book of Five Rings), Chanakya, Niccolo Machiavelli (The Prince) and Sun Tzu ( The Art of War )…it would really be worth a try !
and yes…thanks in advance !

Your site has been my regular passtime since I discovered it about 2 weeks ago.

As an artist: I appreciate the ability to summarize a concept in a minimal frame of images;
As a thoughtful person: I am inspired by your choice of quotations;
As a multicultural being: I am thankful that you have a wide scope of intellectual background supported by imagery that incorporates cultural diversity;
As a fan: Thank you for not being completly politically correct and using my favorite forms or artistic communication.

You are so friggin AWESOME!!! I am already in love with this quote, but I think it’s amazing how you extended Theodore’s words with your illustration. The astronaut dreamer and the mountain climber and everything. Go you for doing what you love and sharing it with the world!

You should really consider picking up a pinterest hover plugin (http://codecanyon.net/search?utf8=&term=pinterest) so that users can hover over your images and automatically pin to pinterest. I see a lot of your work on pinterest already, but this would definitely cause a huge increase. Just a thought.. keep doing what you’re doing. Your talent is amazing!

Hi Gav,
I discovered your site by accident a couple of months ago and I am absolutely hooked. Thank you so much for your work.
I was wondering (if it is not a trade secret or signature) if I could ask you how you created the snow effect in this comic? I’ve noted you’ve used a similiar look a couple of times before and it’s just so effective.
I am an aspiring illustrator in the VERY early stages (love love loved the Ira Glass quote btw. That’s me right now) and all of the computer stuff just eludes me.
Thanks,
Megan

I actually printed this very same quote, when we started our company, back in 2009, and put in on the wall to see it everyday, it’s inspiration, and to the point, no B.S, it’s awesome and i’ll get the print, this is my print version of the quote – http://sdrv.ms/170eAMC

Hi Gav,
I love how connected everything is online. I just found a FB link to this cartoon in reference to a durable and valiant female MMA fighter who didn’t give up and didn’t want her corner to throw in the towel. People’s discomfort is evident in some of the concern. Other unhealthy attitudes are also surfacing that are not helping the situation. The fighter in question, Rosi Sexton, is fine. She lost the fight. She’ll fight again.

Seeing your cartoon in a random link lets me know that I was bound to bump into somewhere along the line

I am a writer/artist, living in NYC. My main project is called the Urbanmonks’ Thinktank. The focus of this thinktank is reflecting on emotional health. We also produce small street books, especially ones that spread wisdom.

I would like to talk to you about working together, for I would love to sell small books of these pieces. You have done an exceptional job, and I would love to see these as small affordable books.

The biggest challenge is that the books would be in black and white.

PS Urbanmonks thinktank website under construction. I will send you a link in a few weeks. I just wanted to establish contact.